76 year old musician, folk artist, rocker, and Nobel Laureate prize winner Bob Dylan has jumped on the celebrity distilled spirits band wagon with the launch of Heaven’s Door Spirits. The super-premium whiskey brand is launching in May with not just one but three whiskeys including a Tennessee Bourbon, a Double Barrel Whiskey and a Straight Rye Whiskey. The one thing that you don’t see here is any mention of Kentucky, instead the brand chose to go one state south and lead with a Tennessee Bourbon Whiskey brand.

Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door Whiskeys

Heaven’s Door is a small-batch collection of handcrafted American whiskeys. Their site says their whiskey represents the, “Perfect blend of art and craft. Each bottle of Heaven’s Door showcases Dylan’s distinctive, welded iron gates that he created in his studio, Black Buffalo Ironworks.” Here’s a breakdown of the initial trilogy of whiskeys.

Heaven’s Door Tennessee Bourbon Straight Bourbon Whiskey – Is a six and a half year old, 90 proof / 45% ABV whiskey made with 70% corn and 30% small grains. The retail price for a 750ml bottle is $49.99.

Heaven’s Door Double Barrel Whiskey – Is a blend of three different whiskeys. The whiskey is double barreled in a second new toasted American Oak Barrel for another year to give it an extra woody taste that Dylan requested. It’s bottled at 100 Proof / 50% ABV and retails for $49.99.

Heaven’s Door CEO Marc Bushala.

According to a story in the New York Times the new Heaven’s Door venture is lead by Marc Bushala, Managing Partner at Rock Gate Partners. Bushala is a well known entrepreneur in the distilled spirits world. Bushala was the Chief Executive Officer of Angel Brands until 2015 when he and other investors sold the company’s flagship brand, Angels Envy Distillery to Bacardi in 2015 for a reported $150 million. He’s now the CEO at Heaven’s Door.

Heaven and Angels – Is there a theme here?

In addition to the similar names, the product lineups between Heaven’s Door and Angel’s Envy are similar. Angels Envy offers a Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey finished in Port Wine Barrels. It’s typically aged up to six years and then finished in ruby port wine barrels made from French oak and bottled at 86.6 Proof / 43.3% ABV. Its offers a Cask Strength version of its bourbon bottled at 124.5 Proof / 62.25% ABV and its third product is a Rye Whiskey finished for an extra 18 months in Caribbean rum casks.

A Heaven’s Door Distillery in the Works?

Tuck-Hinton Architects building, Nashville, TN.

According to the Tennessean, in 2017 Marc Bushala and Darek Bell, Founder of Corsair Distillery paid “$6.2 million for a 0.77-acre property at 610-614 Fifth Ave. S. in the downtown Nashville area south of Broadway. ” And, the Nashville Post reported that Bushala “paid $5.2 million for SoBro (.77 acre) property adjacent to the Tuck-Hinton Architects building he and a group of investors bought in August.” All indications point to a new distillery sometime in the future for downtown Nashville.

The Iron Gates on the Bottles

Iron Gate made by Bob Dylan.

The Heaven’s Door website says, “The iron gates depicted on bottles of Heaven’s Door Whiskey were created by Bob Dylan at his metalworking shop, Black Buffalo Ironworks, and are comprised of found objects collected from farms and scrap yards across America: “everything from farm equipment, children’s toys, kitchen utensils and antique fire arms to chains, cogs, axes and wheels.”

Stay tuned and we’ll keep you posted as Heaven’s Door provides more details on their mid-May 2018 whiskey launch plans.

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